Bored gunman who shot at Mpls. cops gets 26 years in prison

A 19-year-old convicted of shooting at two Minneapolis police officers out of boredom last summer was sentenced Wednesday to more than 26 years in prison.

The sentencing took place two months after a Hennepin County jury found Malo Gomez guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault.

District Judge Robert Small called Gomez's behavior "truly disturbing" and sentenced him to 13 years in prison for each officer. Prosecutors, citing the deliberate attack on police, asked for 18 years for each officer.

According to charges, Minneapolis police officers Deitan Dubuc and Michael Moore were sitting in their squad car just north of 3219 Penn Av. N. after issuing a traffic ticket. They were finishing paperwork and waiting for a tow truck when seven to nine shots were fired at the squad car. Both officers ducked. Five bullets struck the car, but neither officer was wounded.

Police crime lab investigators determined the shots came from near 3230 Penn Av. N., and found nine ammunition cartridge casings in a vacant lot. Investigators later heard from acquaintances of Gomez that he was bragging about the shooting. Under questioning, he eventually admitted that he fired the shots because he was bored.